A common theme arose from the discussions held during Day 1 of the Asia IoT Business Platform being held in Jakarta, Indonesia:- IT divisions are no longer seen as mere supporting units of the enterprise, but rather as a driver of their overall strategy. As such, IT division heads have to be more cognizant of business outcomes instead of just being able to manage costs.

This was cited Mr. Denny Permana, Vice President of IT Strategy at Indonesia's national airline, Garuda. He used the example of how low cost carriers (LCC) disrupted the business models of traditional airlines by using technology as the core of their business operations which gave them efficiency gains, allowing them to deeply undercut incumbents.

This was also repeated by this year's Enterprise Innovation Award Winner, Blue Bird Group, the largest taxi company in Southeast Asia with a fleet of over 30,000 - roughly half of which serves Jakarta alone. Director of Blue Bird Group, Mr. Sigit Djokosoetono, cited the company's evolution over the past 4 decades investing in innovation with the customer need at the core of its business.

When asked about how the company decides on which technological projects to invest in, he differentiated between those which are "nice-to-have" and essential ones which are "need-to-have". He noted the changing landscape of businesses today where an inability to generate profits does not necessarily deter investors in private markets, and that gives a lot of new firms the luxury to ride out a period where a technological change transforms from being one which is a luxury, to one which is essential in the business model within an industry. Blue Bird competes with Uber and Grab in Indonesia.

Technology solution providers, on the other hand, will have to be able to relate their products and services to business outcomes of their (potential) clients if they hope to remain relevant.

Samudera Indonesia Group and Puninar Logistics were also represented on the panel which was moderated by Mr. Hendra Sumiarsa, Division Head of IoT at Indosat Ooredoo. The local Indonesian telecommunication company also launched its IoT solution targeting the fleet management industry, NEXTFleet, at the Asia IoT Business Platform event.

The Transportation & Logistics panel was the final panel of the day at the event which focused on pain points faced by local businesses in Indonesia as they embark on their digital transformation journeys using IoT technology as the core. The other panel covered the Industrial & Manufacturing Industry (representatives from Pertamina, Philip Morris International & BMJ Indonesia).

Pak Muhammad Faisal Jazuli, General Manager of IT Solutions and Security Division at Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) receiving the Indonesia Enterprise Innovation Award on behalf of his company.

Pak Andeka Putra, CIO at Blue Bird Group receiving the Indonesia Enterprise Innovation Award on behalf of his company.